Residents gather in front of the town hall as sunlight is reflected from the mountainside (Picture: Reuters)

A Sun-starved town nestled deep in a mountain valley is soaking up some winter rays for the first time in its history after installing three giant mirrors to reflect light.

In a reverse of a classic episode of The Simpsons, the 3,500 residents of Rjukan in Norway are finally able to bathe in the Sun’s light as it moves low across the sky in the winter months.

The low winter Sun usually keeps residents in the shade for months (Picture: Reuters)

Rjukan, 100 miles west of Oslo, previously endured months of no sunlight every year between September and March, but three giant mirrors – known as heliostats – constructed 450m above the town trace the Sun’s movement and reflect light into the town’s central square.

Town mayor Steinar Bergsland told the Daily Telegraph: ‘It is really special to stand in the light down on the square and feel the heat. This is for the pale little children of Rjukan.’

The artist behind the scheme has admitted the idea seems fantastical (Picture: Reuters)

The idea for reflecting light down into the town was first put forward by industrialist Sam Eyde 100 years ago, but was only made possible by advances in modern technology.

Artist Martin Andersen drew up the new heliostat plans, winning funding of 5million kroner (£525,000) in the process.

The mirrors cost 5million kroner (£525,000) to make (Picture: Reuters)

He told the Times: ‘It sounds like something from a Donald Duck cartoon, it is pretty crazy.’

The town of Viganella in northern Italy adopted a similar system in 2006.